Risk for Hospitalization for Heart Failure Greater With Diabetes

Rate has declined but remains higher in those with type 1 or 2 diabetes than in those without

THURSDAY, Dec. 13, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Despite declining incidence, heart failure hospitalization is increased among individuals with diabetes, according to a study published in the Dec. 11 issue of Circulation.

David A. McAllister, M.D., from the University of Glasgow in Scotland, and colleagues used national Scottish registers to link date and type of diabetes diagnosis to heart failure hospitalizations and deaths during 2004 to 2013 among 3.25 million Scottish residents.

The researchers found crude incidence rates of heart failure hospitalization were 2.4, 12.4, and 5.6 per 1,000 person-years for those without diabetes and those with type 2 and 1 diabetes, respectively. Compared with those without diabetes, individuals with diabetes had an increased incidence of heart failure hospitalization, regardless of type. The smallest relative differences were seen for older men (aged 80 years; rate ratio, 1.78). People with type 2 diabetes and those without diabetes had similar declines in heart failure hospitalization rates (0.2 percent per calendar year); the rates fell faster among those with type 1 diabetes (2.2 percent per calendar year). People with type 2 diabetes and those without diabetes had similar 30-day case fatality, but higher case fatality was seen for men and women with type 1 diabetes (odds ratios, 0.96 and 0.98, respectively). For all groups, there was a decrease in case fatality over time (3.3 percent per calendar year).

"These findings provide additional support for the view that heart failure is an underrecognized and important complication in diabetes, particularly among people with type 1 diabetes," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.